Friction-clutch.



@an 5s4',937. Patented Jan. l', 190|.

A. FISCHER.

FRICTINCLUTCH.

- Application medy Feb. 19, 1990.)

.,(Nn Modal) n mi f y WITNESSES:

Y Goh-CQFD INVENTOR ATTORNEY.

UNrrED STATES' 'AT-ENT Qrricn.

.ALEXANDER-FISCHER, or New YORK, NQY.

Fmo-TloNcLuTci-l.

SPECIFICATION' forming part pf Letters Patent No. 664,937, dated January' 1, 1901. @yucatan-med sammy 19,1900. serial Naam?.l u tq meer.)

To all whom, it Wha/yconcern.V

Beit knownthat I, ALEXANDER FISCHER, a citizen of the United States of America,and a resident of New York city, county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Friction-Clutches,4 of which the `following is a specification.

, My invention relates to friction-clutches in general; and it more specifically consists of an .improved quick-action friction-clutch for use on the d riv'ing-gear of an automobile carriage.

The preferred form of apparatus' embodying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings, in`which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the clutch. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section in the. plane of the axis of the shaft.

Throughout the drawings like vreferencefigures refer to like parts.

The .power-shaft 1, shown partly broken' away in Fig. 2, has the shoe-carrying frame 2 keyed thereon, so .as to revolve with it. Th'e segmental shoes 3 4 are mounted on said frame 2 and movable thereon radially of the ,shaftA 1 by means of the'pin-and-slot connections 5 5.' Said shoes have, preferably, affacing 6,'of wood or other material, which will most effectively cooperate with the hollow metal pulley T, within which the shoes are loy cated, whichsaid hollow pulley is loosely mounted on the shaft 1, b'uirigidl'y fastened to gear-wheel S. Preferably said gear-wheel is of approximately the same diameter as the pulley r-:an'dis fastened thereto by a series" of vscrews 9 9 passing through the peripheryy .of both thevgear-wheel and the pulley.

The means for expanding the shoes 3 4 within the hollow pulley the right and left hand screws 10 and l1,\vhich mesh with the correspondingly-threaded nuts `12 12, set into the-shoes 3 t.' The screw-shaft v.l0 hasv a bent lever-arm 13 projecting from it,

. and the screw-shaft 1l has an oppositely-ben'tlever-arm 1l projecting from 1t. The .outer ends of. these lever-arms are preferably connected to a sliding collar l5 on the main shaft means of the pin-and-slot connections 16 This sliding collar is loosely ,keyed to the shaft 1, as shown at 17, so as tol revolve with said shaft,hut tol slide axially thereon. The method of operating my invention is 7 preferably consist ofvice (not shown) itting into the groove-'of the sliding collar -l'ien'ables the operator to slide the same axially on the power-shaft 1. lWhenv the parts are inthe position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the oppositely-thre'adcd screw-shafts 10 and 11 are so turned as to force the segmental screws 3 and et apart-and bind them tightly against the interior surface of the hollow pulley 7. Accordingly the shoe-carrying frame 2, the shoes, and the loose pulley 71fare all bound together and revolve with the shaft 1, the power being consequently transmitted to 'as follows: vA forked lever or any otherde-` the gear-wheel 8. If, however, the sliding collar 15 were moved to the right, (see Fig. 2,) the lever-arms 13 14c would be turned in that direction andthe oppositely-threaded screwslO and 11 would be partly forced into the nuts 12 12, embedded in the shoes, and accordingly said shoes would be drawn together and freed from frictional contact with the interior of the hollow pulley 7. Said pulley would accordingly be free to remain stationarylwh'ile the shoes revolved idly within it,and no power wouldbe transmitted to gear 8.

The advantages of my invention consist in the quick action of the clutch, resulting from the use of the double-threaded screws, and the even operation ofthe expansion app'aratus, resulting-from the fact that the-segmental shoes are alwayspreserved parallel one to the other and move along parallel lines, wherebyv any binding of the movingparts is prevented, in the self-contained nature of the construction, all levers and moving parts except the sliding collar 15 being within the hollow pulley 7, where they will not catch fon any objectplaced near the clutch, and in the combination of strength with lightness resulting from the method of fastening the drivinggear to the loose pulley at the peripheries of these two elements.

It is evident, of coursle,that various changes could he made vi-n the details of construction illustrated without departing'from the spirit and scope of my invention so long ,as the relative arrangement of parts. shown in the drawings or the principle of operation disclosed in the specification is preserved.'

Other means of expanding the segmental shoes might be employed,'and dilerent connections of the screws and levers might be IOO substituted. The transmission, of power might be from` gear-Wheel to shaft instead of from shaft to earfvvheel, and the means for transmitting motion from the ,hollow pnlleT to the driven' mechanism might be other than the gear-Wheel illust-rated; but all these modifications I Consider 'Within the scope of my invention.

Having therefore described rny invention,"

lshaft, the right and left hand screws Connecting said segmental shoes, an axially-sliding collar on the power-shaft, lugs on said collar projecting into the interior of the hollow pulley, pins on said lugs, and a bent lever-arm extending from each right and left hand screw part way around the shaft to the opposite 'lng on the sliding collar and provided with a slot extending lengthwise of the lever, whichslot meshes with the pinion on the lng. Signed by me at Jersey City, New Jersey, this 14th 'day of February, 1900.

GEO. B. ADAMS, W.AH. PUMPHREY. 

